Dam construction.



E. B. HUNT.

DIAM CONSTRUCTION. APPLIUATION Hmm enlaza. 1912.

Patented Mar. 3, 19M

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A E. B. HUNT.

DAM CONSTRUCTION. APrLIoATIoN FILED SEPT. ze. 1912.

1,088,702. Patented Mar; 3, 1914h 3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

E. B. HUNT.

DAM CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION .FILED SEPT. 26, 1912.

1,088,702. ylatented Mar.3,1914

R SHEETS-SHEET 3.

EDWARD B. HUNT, 0F LAMPASAS. TEXAS.

DAM CONSTRUCTION.

' Application tiled September 26. 1912.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914t. sei-m1 No. 722,425.

To all fle/10m il' may concern.

Be itl known that I. Enwann B. HUNT, a citizen of the United States` residing at Lanipasas. in the county of Lampasas and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dam Construction. of which the following is a specification. l

My invention relates to dam constructions and it has for its primary object to so construct a dam that the retainer or head wall will be of a height considerably lessthan the depth of the water retained thereby.

Another object of my invention is the construction of 4a dam provided' with a substructure and a retainer or head wall carried by said substructure of considerably less height than the depth of the water retained thereby.

A further object is the provision of a substructure rising -from the bed of the river or stream and provided with a load-carrying deck which gradually rises in the direction of the flow of.' the water and at its farther or front end is surmounted by a retainer or head wall of a height only a comparatively small fraction of the depth of the water retained thereby.

A stillfurther object is the provision of means for permitting the water retained by the retainer or head wall to fiow along the natural bed of the river or stream and underneath said Vall, thus enabling repairs to be made to the wall if required.

Still further objects are to provide the retainer or head wall with a movable wall capable of beingelevated to increase the head of the water when flood waters pass away; and to otherwise improve on dams as now constructed.

To these ends the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and more particularly' set forth in the appended claims.

ln the drawings forming part of this specification,4Figure l is a longitudinal section through a damV constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on line g/-y/, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the dam. Fig. 4 isa broken fragmentary section of the retainer or head wall taken in a vertical plane. Fig. 5 lis a horizontal section taken on line z-ae, Fig. 4. gy

Referring now to the drawings in detail,

like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

'lhe reference character A designates the hed of a river or stream, B the dam con# sidercd as a whole. C the substructure, and D the slll'ierstructure.

The suhstructm'e C comprises a transverse or abutment wall G embedded into and rising above the bed of the river or stream and longitudinal walls or buttresses 7 increasing in height from said transverse or abutment wall in the direction of the flow of water, or downstream as it may bel termed, with preferably a sharp rise at an intermediate point, as at S.. These walls may be constructed of any suitable material but are preferably constructed of concrete, reinforced in any approved manner, and if de sired the longitudinal walls or buttresses may be made thicker progressively as shown, from their low points forward to their high points.

The longitudinal walls or but-tresses 7 are spaced apart to form the intervening spaces 9. and by preference, I construct side walls l() along' the banks of the stream which may rise to the l'ieight of the top of the superstructure. These side Valls may, however, be dispensed with where the nature of the banks of the stream permits, and in many instances would be modified from the construction herein shown. lVhen these side walls are used the lower portions thereof may be said to form part of the substructure and the upper portion part ofthe superstructure.

The intervening spaces 9 are covered with a load-supporting deck ll which is preferably constructed of reinforced concrete and carried by the longitudinal walls or buttrcsses 7. and by reason of its being carried in thisl manner it gradually rises from the transverse abutment wall 6 forwardly with an abrupt deflection or rise at a point between its front and rear ends, as at 12.` This load-supporting deck .forms an artificial elevated bed for the water and may rise from front to rear to any desired height.

At' the downstream or forward end of the longitudinal walls or buttresses the superstructure proper is located, which con- .sists of a transverselyfdisposed retainer or head wall 13 and beams 14: spanning the spaces t) between said longitudinal walls or buttresses and serving to support said re-4 tainer or head wall between vsaid longitudinal walls or buttresses. This retainer or head wall rises from the substructurewith 'theunderside thereofilush with the underlside of the load-supporting deck 11 and like the walls above referred to, it is preferably constructed of reinforced concrete. Said retainer or head wall may be a straight or curved wall, as may be desired, and in the accompanying drawings it is shown as measuring from top to bottom about two- -sevenths' the heightof the entire dam construction. This prop'ortion may of course tbe changed, but under the principle involved the retainer or head wall is elevated a considerable distance above the bed of the river or stream and by reaso-n of its being only a raction of the height of the dam it is subl)ected to pressure of the water in proportion to its height although assuring a head of water fully as high as a wall of much greater height.. Byreason of the retainer or Head .wa-ll. being supported in an elevated position and ybeing of a height only a fraction of; the height of the entire construction, the

thickness .ofthe same need not exceed its propervproportion to its height, which resultsinla considerable saving in material.

Byconstructing the longitudinal walls or buttresses. so that they incline from their forward" to their rear ends, the load of the :water supported thereby and flowing toward the retainer or head Wallis in a vertical ffplane'with the thrust of the same in the direotion, of the length of the said walls orllttesses and this construction further permits the transverse .or abutment wall and the retainer or head wall to be lmade of heightso as to relieve the structure of the pressure of the Water in a direcltion Atransversely to these walls.

he transverse or abutment wall has relief openings .or passa es 15 formed therein inpla'nes between the longitudinal walls or buttreSSesj These openings are closed with gates 'or closures 16 of any suitable material br construction, which may be removed to 4the water to pass'through said pas- Sages and iiow downstream underneath the Iretainer or headl wall. This is a very desirale feature of'my invention, as it permits tA efwater to be drained from the superstructure and the load-supporting deck so that remay be made to the dam when neces` sary.

I also provide the dam with a movable retainer wall-17, which may be elevated in 'times of -fiood so as to maintain the water at a, eater head, and for this purpose the retainer or head wall 13 is provided with an upwardly opening pocket 18 which extends .from end to end thereofand in said pocket thy .movable retainer Wallis-located. Said removable retainer wall has secured thereto at intervals-in its length nuts '19 which are arranged 'in pairs, oneofeach being a dis tance from the ,upper edge of said wall and the other near the lower edge thereof. Threaded through each pair of said nuts is a screw shaft 20, each having a worm gear 21 at the lower end which is in mesh with a worm 22 secured to a horizontal shaft 23 extending forwardly through the head wall. The forward Zends of the shafts 23 have bevel gears 24 secured thereto which are in mesh with a bevel gear 25 secured to a transversely-disposed driving shaft 26 journaled in the-brackets 27 extending outward from the front face of the head wall 13..

If found desirable the screw shafts 20 may be extended above the upper edge of the movable retainer wall 17 inwhich-event the upper edge of the several pairs of nuts 19 may be laced closer to the upper edge-of the retamer Wall than would be otherwise possible. A

At intervals in the width or length of the head Wall recesses 28 are formed in which are located electrically-driven motors 29,-the shaft of each having a sprocket wheel 30 around which and sprocket Wheels 31 on said transversely disposed driving 4shaft. 26 sprocket-chains 32 are passed. As clearly shown inthe drawings, the recesses 28 open through the front of the headl wall 13 and are therefore protected from the water. The motor with the parts between it and lthe screw-'shafts 20 constitute the manipulating mechanism for raising and lowering lthe movable retainer wall, but if desired, anyr other form of manipulating mechanism may be employed without departing fronithe callyvat'intervals in its length; these guideV pieces being in contact with the front and rear walls of the pocket 18 to prevent Wabbling of said movable retainer wall.

In order to stay the movable 'retainer wall when elevated so as to prevent the water forcing the same forward, stay cables 35 are provided which are secured at one of their ends tothe upper edge of said wall,`as at 36 ,and at their other ends to the rear face o to any. other low Vthe.head.,'wall, as at 37, o-r points.

For the purpose of preventing tlievwater which may. pass 'over'V the.. head ywall', from ydropping onto the manipulating mechanism of thefmovable, retainer wall, ,saidheadawell v'has at its upper-edgeuafforwardlyextending v jecting from the bed of a stream or river, a

Losanna projecting portion 38, and secured to the frontof said head wall is a. platform 39 which extends almost the full width of said wall so that repairs can be easily made to the manipulating mechanism or the latter be inspected when desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,--

l. A dam having a solid head all supported adist-ance above the bed of a stream or river.

2. A dam comprising a substructure and a solid head wall supported by said substructure a distance above the bed of a stream or river.

3. A dam comprising a substructure having a load-supporting' deck elevated above the bed ofa stream or river, and a head wall supported on said substructure at the downstream end of said load-supporting deck, said lead supporting deck extending up 4stream from the lower end of said head wall.

4. A dam comprising a substructure having longitudinallydisposed buttresses pro-' load-supporting deck carried by said buttresses, and a head wall also carried by said buttresses and arranged substantially at a right angle thereto, said buttresses and deck extending up stream a distance.

5. A dam comprising spaced longitudinally-disposed buttresses projecting from the bed of a stream or river and being of gradually increased height down-stream` an abutment wall at the 11p-stream ends of said buttresses, a head wall carried by the downstream ends of said buttresses, and a loadsupporting deck carried by said buttresses and extending from said abutment wall to said head wall.

6. A dam construction comprising longitudinally-disposed buttresses projecting up Ward from the bed of a stream orriver and :being gradually inclined from their downstream ends to their tip-stream ends with an abrupt deflection between their ends, an abutment wall arranged at a right angle to said buttresses at their tip-stream ends. a head wall arranged at a right angle to said buttresses vat their down-stream ends, said head wall being supported in an elevated position by said buttresses, and a loadsupporting deck carried by said buttresses and extending from said abutment wall to said head wall. said load-supporting deck having an abrupt deflection at a point between its ends.

7. A dam construction comprising longil t-udinally-disposed buttresses spaced apart and extendingupward from the bed or river, an abutment wall arranged trans versely at the 11p-stream end of said buttresses and having openings 1n line with,y the spaces between said buttresses. a closure l for each of' said openings, a head wall supported by said buttresses at their downstream ends. and a load-supporting deck supported by said buttresses and extendim3 from said abutment wall to said head wall.`

S. A dam construction comprising longitudinaily-disposed huttressesl spaced apart ,and extending upward from the bed of a stream or river. an abutment wall at the lip-stream end of said buttresses, a head wall supported by said buttresses at their downstream ends and having an upwardly openingl pocket Vextending from end to end thereof, a load-supporting deck supported bv said huttresses and extending from said abutment wall to said head wall, and a letainer wall vertically movable in said pocket and adapted to be elevated therefrom to increase the head of the water retained by the dam.

9. dam construction comprising a head wall having an upwardly opening pocket extending from end to end thereof, a retainer wall vertically movable in said pocket, means for elevating said retainer wally to increase the head of the water retained by the dam, and means for staying said retainer wall when elevated to prevent deflection thereof under pressure of said water.

10. A dam construction comprising a head wall having a vertically sliding retainer 'wall adapted to be elevated above the upper edge of said head wall to increase the head of the water retained by the dam.

l1. A. dam construction comprising a head wall having an upwardly opening pocket extending from end to end thereof, a retainer wall located within said pocket and adapted to be elevated therefrom, and stay cables secured to the upper edge of said retainer wall with one of their ends and having their other end .secured t'o a low point in rear of said retainer wall.

l2. .t dam construction comprising a head wall` a retainer wall movable with respect thereto Vto increase the head of the water retained thereby. a driving shaft arranged lengthwise on said head wall and extending from one end thereof to the other, means for rotating said driving shaft. and operative mechanism intermediate said driving shaft and said retainer wall for elevating and "lowering the latter.

ll). il dam construction connnising a head wall having an upwardly opening pocket, a retainer vall in said pocket having a pluralitv of pairs,of nuts secured thereto, a vertically disposed screwshaft for each pair of said nuts. a worm gear secured to each of said screw-shafts. shafts extending through a portion oit' said `head wall from the pocket; therein to the outer face thereof. a worm secured to each of said last-mentioned shafts and in mesh with the worm means for rotating the shafts having said wall having recesses in its outer face', elect-y4 gtrically-operated motors situated in 'said re- -tically with respect to said head "WaILfa'- plurality of shafts rotated by said driving.

y 'ectind' ortion mot-ors wi hin said recesses 25- wall having an upwardlyv opening pocket I gearv of its corresponding screw-shaft, and

worms thereon at a uniform speed.

14.. A dam construction comprising a head cesses, a driving shafty arranged lengthwise infront of said head wall and being rotated by said motors, a retainer wall movable ver?.

anda movable retainer wa l arranged within said lhead wall and adap ed to be elevated and lowered by actuation of said motors.

' 16. A dam construction comprising a head extending from end to end thereof, a retainer wall movable Within said pocket, a il driving shaft arranged lengthwise at the front face of said head wall, a. platform extending lengthwise of said head wall, and

-operative connection between "said driving shaft and' said .retainer wall. 4 l

l 17. A damcomprising a substructure having longitudinally-disposed buttresses rising frocui the bed of a stream or river, a

.load supporting deck 'carried by said buttresses and entirely elevated to lallow the Water of the stream or river topass' under- .neath whenidiverted from itslv course over lthe darn, means'. at the up stream endl of .said'deck to cause the water to flow,l onto said deck, and a head wall also carried by said buttresses at the down stream end of said deck and arranged substantially at a right angle to said buttresses.

In testimony whereof, I have aiixed 'my signature in th presence of two subscribingv Witnesses.

l EDVARD B. HUNT. lvitnesses:

VM. A. LUDDEN, G'Eo. H. PATCHIN. 

